1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an adjustable rearview mirror, especially an outside mirror, for a motor vehicle, whereby a first element is affixable to the vehicle and a second element, rotatably attached to the first element, exhibits or forms a mount for a mirror, whereby the two elements are designed as dish-shaped elements that nest with one another at least partially and are guided or bear against one another via outside and inside areas of contact forming a segment of a spherical surface and whereby a drive is provided between the first and the second element.
2. Discussion of Background Information
From AT-B 256 645 and DE-B 12 41 295, a motor vehicle outside rearview mirror combined with an electric lamp has become known, whereby two dish-shaped elements that nest partially with one another are provided and a lamp is to be integrated in the mirror, whereby no drive is provided between the individual dish-shaped elements, however.
Adjustable rearview mirrors of the type initially mentioned can be found in DE-A 39 14 334 and FR-A 2 649 653, whereby hemispherical friction dishes guided on one another are each designed with a drive for mutual adjustability of the friction dishes. Provided for the adjustment or as a drive in these known designs are rack-and-pinion gears, costly in terms of design, which make necessary a multitude of additional components and a large space requirement.
In addition, from DE-C 36 29 320 has become known a remotely controllable rearview mirror for a motor vehicle with an actuating device and a twistable bearing device for the rearview mirror, whereby the two devices are connected to one another via Bowden cables. The actuating mechanism of this known device consists here of two worm gears that are drivable by two knurling wheels and are connected with the cables of at least two Bowden cables for the adjustment of the bearing device in two directions in space.
Inferable in DE-A 38 20 578 is an outside mirror for motor vehicles comprising an outer housing that exhibits a reflecting plate and a device with a drive and an electric motor which produces a rotating motion of the housing around a fixed axis. Here, by means of a control switch system, the rearview mirror is swiveled into its operating position at a movement of the vehicle, while the rearview mirror is swiveled into a position folded up against the vehicle at stillstand of the vehicle's engine.
Additional known designs of adjustable mirrors for motor vehicles of the type initially mentioned can be found, for example, in EP-B 0 287 181, EP-B 0 675 817, DE-A 36 33 010, DE-A 40 30 010, and DE-A 41 15 876. In each of these known designs, a carrier element is provided that is affixable to the vehicle, whereby a second element holding a mirror is rotatably hinge-jointed to a free end of this carrier element, whereby a swivel joint, usually extremely complex in design, is provided for a swivelling of the mirror element relative to the carrier element. In addition, at least one gear box or a drive motor for facilitation of mutual swiveling capability is provided in the region of this swivel joint. Disadvantageous in these known design forms is in general that an essentially point support is provided to the elements capable of swiveling relative to one another, which is relatively unstable especially with respect to shocks and vibrations. Additionally disadvantageous is that essentially the entire swiveling mechanism, and thus the largest part of the weight of the device is concentrated in a very small space in the region of the swivel point.